Maybe it's just me, but I love Muji. I don't know why, but I do. It's very generic looking. Many would say too simplistic and boring. I don't know how I feel. Sometimes I do love that minimalistic approach that they have about EVERYTHING they make. And no stupid logo on ANY of their products. Plus, they know how to recycle and use recycled materials in many of their products. I like this a lot. They're like Ikea, but less flash.

They make clothing which is very well priced, and it's because the materials they use, design philosophy, and entire manufacturing process saves them a lot of work. They're not adding weird fades and miscolourings (ie: a white stripe of paint) to their jeans to make them look worn out because that sounds like a ridiculous thing to do, and they know it. They don't hide the fact that they use recycled paper for packaging, and they don't mind that their boxes look like regular, brown cardboard boxes.

What I like about the existence of Muji is that they're really one of the only stores I can think of where you can still buy generic stuff. Even if you go to a Walmart or other cheap store, none of their stuff is truly generic. People are still buying logos and packaging, but lesser brands. I can't just buy a pair of slippers, a back scrub for showering, a pencil, and pack of paper without looking at a bunch of logos to see if I "should" like it. And the paper and pencil they sell are made from recycled materials. I love it. It truly IS generic, except you know that it's Muji. I realize that it is a brand, but it's really not the same.

Those really nice CD boxes? Don't expect to come back and get another 6 matching ones in a year's time...

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and yes!

Hence, Muji/Uniqlo/other generic stuff pleases me hugely. There's nothing worse than finding, for instance, a really perfect breadbin, and then finding out it says "BREAD" on it. I know! I put bread in it! I'm not going to forget by the morning...

I really like this:

and this:

The CD player's designed to sit in a book case, which is pretty cool. Especially as I often store my PowerBook in with my books, so it would be a technology bonzana on 3" of my book case. Yay!

Also, that UNIQLO store is pretty much The Gap, which isn't why I like MUJI.

And they sell pre-torn jeans. I hate it when they make jeans ripped and worn out so that people with no personality can look like they have actually experienced things in their lifetimes. Just buy 2nd hand jeans if you likes worn out jeans.

Like iGAV, I also don't believe that they switch merchandise too often, but it depends on what it is. Clothing will obviously stay for a season, but things like pens, pencils, CD holders, binders..........those are staples, no? They stick around.

I love their pens in many different colours - they write on almost anything, last for ages and are only about 80p each.

I also like the odd things they have each Christmas which are ideal stocking fillers. I'd most like them to sell their stock storage boxes which are a great size to go under the bed with stuff in them but they don't sell them

It's a phone. They call it a "second phone", presumably because it doesn't have number storage etc. You keep it face down on the table, and when you lift it up, you get the dial tone. To hang up, just put it back down. The sticking out speaky bit does the magic.

Abstract said:

Also, that UNIQLO store is pretty much The Gap, which isn't why I like MUJI.

And they sell pre-torn jeans. I hate it when they make jeans ripped and worn out so that people with no personality can look like they have actually experienced things in their lifetimes. Just buy 2nd hand jeans if you likes worn out jeans.

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That's interesting. I haven't been to a Uniqlo since I lived in London which was a couple of years ago, and when I used to go it didn't do stuff like that, which was why I liked it. Next time I'm in London I'll go. (For research purposes, obviously )

They have a UNIQLO in London? Where abouts? Mind you, I lived in London for almost a year, so I might know where you're talking about if you tell me.

Oh, and it looks like the UK store has a different selection to the Japanese store. The stuff still looks kinda Gap-ish to me. Very conservative, but they try to throw in a colour to make themselves less bland. I don't mind plain, but its the way they use colours in very normal clothing that makes it look like Gap to me.

If you buy a box of tissues at target (the kind with a decorative cover) and take the cover off, the box is just a white box that says "tissue paper" in black, block letters on the face. i loved that box.

kinda because of a bad experience with their paper -- don't buy paper from them (derr). I kinda had some rough notes on one of their pads..but it went a very odd yellow colour and all the ink faded off..still, probably my bad (it WAS all dry though..no water damage).

the little neat stuff like pens and rubbers are cool..i've never tried their clothes but maybe i should.

They have a UNIQLO in London? Where abouts? Mind you, I lived in London for almost a year, so I might know where you're talking about if you tell me.

Oh, and it looks like the UK store has a different selection to the Japanese store. The stuff still looks kinda Gap-ish to me. Very conservative, but they try to throw in a colour to make themselves less bland. I don't mind plain, but its the way they use colours in very normal clothing that makes it look like Gap to me.

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The one I went to a few times was in Wimbledon, but there's one in Knightsbridge, or Kensington High Street or somewhere like that. I can't remember where exactly, but it was somewhere that was a bit of a trek, and where Uniqlo was the only shop I could afford anything from. Could have been either then!

I think they have other branches too, though. Oh, and I seem to remember the floor in the shop looked like it was loads of tiny little pebbles/gravel glued together but was actually made of rubber. It was very cool. Worth the trip alone (maybe)!

kinda because of a bad experience with their paper -- don't buy paper from them (derr). I kinda had some rough notes on one of their pads..but it went a very odd yellow colour and all the ink faded off..still, probably my bad (it WAS all dry though..no water damage).

the little neat stuff like pens and rubbers are cool..i've never tried their clothes but maybe i should.

A couple of years ago, there used to be one just a hundred yards or so down past Harrods on Brompton Road. It's now gone and I'm not surprised... poor retail location for their products. Needed somewhere a little more high-street-like. Another branch in North London also closed...

There was also another at the bottom of Regent St. near Piccadilly Circus. I still have a couple of Tshirts I picked up there but they're on the verge of being relegated to the DIY bag along with all the tools that hangs in one of my cupboards.

Well, I went to the Regent Street Uniqlo on Saturday, and I have to agree that it's gone downhill in recent years. The clothes were all a bit crap. They did have cashmere jumpers for £40, but although nice, who wants to dry clean a jumper?

However I did buy some pajama trousers, a set of hankies and some socks. You can't go to Uniqlo and not buy socks.

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